Carolina Coastal Decor in the City

Welcome back to a peek into the rooms that I'm decorating for my clients.   My work as an Interior Designer is a bit different as it's completely unique in being tailored to you as I use my psychic intuitive abilities to tune into what design works best for you!

This is because I'm an Intuitive Interior Decorator. This means that I see the energy field known as the aura around people, places and nature and I psychically see the colors, style and energy that will work best in your home.

My intuitive interior designs are truly bespoke, renowned for capturing the spirit of both the room and your personal style. I intuitively tap into the energy of the home and read the aura of you, your partner, your children and other family members in order to create sacred space, using distinctive color and energy flow designs for each room that reflect your heart and soul in a personal and empowering manner.

Because of my intuitive abilities to see who you are at a soul level, I design homes that not only look beautiful, they create a happy, harmonious, loving environment for you and your family!

My work includes incorporating color in paint, fabrics, window treatments, flooring, wallpaper, lighting, furnishings and home décor selected specifically for your incomparable style, all designed with the intention to stimulate and awaken the energy in your home.

Let's look at my latest project, which I have named Carolina Coastal Decor in the City!

My client loves being outside in nature, especially at the beach. It's where she finds tranquility, peace and an awakening of her soul. At the beach she connects intuitively to her Higher Self and finds serenity and comfort.

She recently has made a move into a large city in North Carolina, which leaves her missing seeing water, (even when living in the mountains, she hiked daily by waterfalls).   So after my first consultation with her, we decided to give her home a coastal feel, so that she could enjoy the feeling of living near water, even though her view outside is definitely the city.

She's living in an apartment in an urban setting, so we wanted to change how she feels when she walks into her home. 

Here's a fun thing about apartment living. If you've followed me for a while, you know I teach in interior design, that the home is the boss, that you have to go with the style of the home.

For example, if you live in the country in a ranch home, it would look a little out of place to decorate it with all modern furniture.  Design flows better when it's in sync with the style of your home.  

But... there's never a truly hard set rule in life and this applies here as well. When you live in an apartment, the interior is so generic, that it doesn't have much of a style or look, (unless it's an older apartment built in a certain period).   Most contemporary modern apartments have a rather basic look.  This means they don't have a lot of character, but the good news is, you can transform that empty shell into almost any look you want!

Here's a look at the BEFORE of what my client's living room looks like.  

It's neutral which is a great palette to work with.  Being that it's a rental, we can't make big changes like painting or adding architectural items, but we're lucky here as the paint color is a great neutral and the floors are new with a wood tone look. Most of you have probably lived in or seen an apartment living room that looks just like this.

Here's the AFTER photo of her living room:

Do you feel the Carolina Coastal energy inviting you into the room. :) 

Let's look at the room section by section in order to see how to create this LOOK and to understand how each piece connects intuitively to create the feeling in the room.

White washed furniture helps create a coastal vibe. My inspiration for this entire room began with choosing the white media console with the rustic wood doors.

It gives a timeless feel, a look that says that it's been in the home for ages and like all great coastal homes, it's a space to collect shells, books and other meaningful items.

Next up is a super comfy sofa in a soft warm beige. The light blue rug against the beige sofa mimics the look of sand and surf, creating a very calm and relaxing vibe.

Notice in the seascape artwork that I've chosen over the sofa, that it has gold running through the scene. You'll see where I continue this gold color softly through the room and into the dining area in small doses. Gold is very on trend right now, and I added it sparingly here, in order to make sure the room doesn't feel too modern or trendy. Rather I added just enough to bring the metallic sheen into the room and to give a nod that yes we are on trend and acknowledging today's designs, but not too much as it would make the room feel too modern.

Good lighting is very important in this room in the evening and these blue glass lamps provide a soft romantic glow.  Blue and gold candles on the coffee table continue the soft lighting mood.

And these adorable white washed and wood rustic end tables continue this island whimsy cottage theme across from the media console. Their shapes keep the room from feeling too square and heavy like many end tables can do in a small space. They have movement and feel fresh. My next suggestion to my client here will be for her to find a large conch shell during her travels to the beach, to place on the end table here.

This chair is the unexpected pop of color and pattern and energy in the room.

Otherwise the room would look so lackluster that you might fall asleep in it, which might be nice sometimes, but not all the time. The chair pattern awakens the eye and the round compass pillow is the perfect offset shape to the square design of the chair and the strong diagonal pattern. The pillow softens the chair and has a touch of whimsy reminding you that you've entered a coastal fun zone. 

I've also added what designers call "a little dirty". It's a trade secret that you always add something that's not shiny and perfect, in order to make the room feel grounded and believable.  In this design, I added the sea grass poufs that you see on the other side of the coffee table to give the room more texture and depth. The natural elements anchor us into the feeling of sea grass and island living.

BONUS FACTOR: The poufs serve as extra seating at a party, as an ottoman for the chair and as a serving space when needed as an extra table to put a drink or plate on.

Plants and greenery are important in every room. They symbolize life and balance and anchor the room. The mirror above the plant serves several purposes, it helps reflect light around the room, by day with sunlight streaming through the doors, and at night by reflecting the glow of light from the lamps on the other side of the room. 

The mirror in white washed and wood continues the rustic/aged look. The intention of this design is to say: this coastal home has been loved and shared for generations here on the coast, making one forget that they've just walked into an apartment. Intuitively, this gives my client the feeling of being "settled and secure", helping her not feel as uneasy as one does when they move to a new home.

Artwork is key for this style of room. Go back and look at picture number one to see the beautiful seascape art over the sofa to see how it captures the mood and how the colors play perfectly with the sofa and room. 

The sand dollar art by the chair is in a deeper blue, anchoring the room, so that it doesn't lose vibrancy. Decorating the entire room in soft pastels would be wrong, as it would become dull and lifeless. The navy blue draws the eye into the room and I've used pillows in various shades of blue to continue these colors across the room. 

I've also included an orange throw on the sofa to add a pop of color and it connects this room to the dining area that you'll see next with a bar cart that continues the orange colors throughout the space.

The media console is filled with items of the owner's that she already had. We added a bit of metallic gold with the star there and a pop of blue with the pineapple.  The white tray with gold handles on the coffee table continues the metallic sheen, which is a must to add right now to be on trend.  Silver Koi fish swim in the tray on the coffee table for an unexpected surprise. These items are all fun and also inexpensive, so they can be changed easily in the future for a new trendy look without a lot of expense.

I asked the owner to select some coffee table books for her tray that reflect her mood and energy to bring this into the room.  What's her mood?  It says right there on the covers, what she wanted this room to look and feel like --- Relaxed Coastal Style and Island Whimsy.  I think we nailed it. :)

Outside of this room, we enter the kitchen/dining area. I wanted to create a fun focal point in this area with a gold bar cart.   The goal intuitively is to generate energy to attract new friends and social gatherings in her new home. With this goal in mind, I  created this mood here on the bar cart so she can entertain well when friends arrive.  To begin, we bring the coastal vibe over into this area with the lively blue fish and turtle and anchor the section with the green plant.

It's time to wake up the room a little from the serene feeling of the living room. So I've introduced some art here in bold colors. The artwork is rounded to mimic the round features in the cart and the colors continue the look from room to room in blue, beige, gold and orange. And of course, we need some mood lighting here on the cart as well.

Notice how I've incorporated the round feature throughout the space, which keeps the feeling more feminine than hard edges. That's often the difference between a more masculine "nautical" feel to a room versus a more feminine "coastal" feel. Look back at the rooms and you'll see the round compass pillow, the round sand dollar art, the round handles on the tray on the coffee table, the round circles in the artwork and the round shape in the bar cart. It's subtle but adds to the overall effect. It's these subtle touches in design that make all the difference in creating mood and energy flow.

I asked her to choose some books that incorporate her personality and style, along with the message she'd like to create and express in this social area.

Her covers are Tarot, Unforgettable Journeys and Spectacle.  I think her guests will enjoy a cocktail here with her while chatting with her about some of her favorite hobbies. ;)

This is the place to play with metallic colors, we have the gold cart and other accessories, and we've added a silver ice bucket and shaker, which plays into the silver accents in the kitchen, which is adjacent and open to this area. 

And how cute is the starfish here, juxtaposed against the crystal glasses, the texture and colors flow so well!

Here's a view from the kitchen into the living room. The bar cart is to the left here. The last item I introduced to this area are these incredible blue leather stools with silver bases.

They add a bit of edge to her apartment, instead of just a slow coastal vibe.  They're sleek and fun and liven things up here in the space.

View of the stools here with their silver accents connecting them with the stainless silver appliances in the kitchen.

The white washed french dough bowl keeps the kitchen from feeling too modern and and the bright yellow lemons warm up the space so that it's doesn't feel too cold with all the silver and blue.

Alright, I hope you've enjoyed this Carolina Coastal tour in the city here. And I hope that it sparks your inspiration of what you can do in a small room and setting in an apartment. 

If you're ready to Intuitively decorate your space, contact me for a consultation or come study with me online in my new six week course, How to Intuitively Decorate in my new Intuitive Interior Decor school.

Happy Decorating!